Is it ethical to charge people to watch a funeral using digital video conferencing? That is the question facing stakeholders in the funeral service in Southampton.
From today’s Telegraph:
A crematorium is to enable mourners to watch funerals live over the internet if they cannot pay their respects in person. Friends and relatives can pay £75 for a password to access a webcast of ceremonies at Southampton Crematorium.
For a £75 fee, families will recieve a username and password which they can pass on to anyone who cannot attend the ceremony. Mourners can also buy a DVD for £50 and an audio recording for £25.
Leaving aside the pricing strategy, this new service has created some opposition. But surely it is a logical and entrepreneurial response to the problems people face attending funerals.
I personally think that this is a good and profitable idea for loved ones around the world who can afford or travel to funerals.
However, I feel that £75 per password is rather expensive, I think that £60 is a more reasonable price.
Charging to watch the proceedings at the crematorium - now that would make my blood boil
Obviously I prefer to be at the funeral itself, but I think it is benefical for people who cannot travel to the funeral for some reason. A member of my family has died recently, but I couldn’t go to the funeral as it was in a different country and I had to work for school. So, in these type of situations I think service is rather effective.
I have to agree with all of your comments.
On one hand i feel it benefits family members which cannot be there but on the other £75 is a bit steep. Although funeral companies are there to make money after all. You’d probably find that this would only appeal to large families which are spread out all over the world and funeral directors won’t see a lot of demand for this type of thing, with high startup costs of this of conferencing equipment i’m not at all surprised about the price.
They’d probably be making a loss of this type of service until the idea has been picked up by consumers.
